The Illegal Side of Sports
With examples such as the Houston Astros stealing signs, NBA executives embezzling money and disqualifications in the Kentucky Derby, there is a prominent illegal side to sports. It is often not seen in the news until the act was discovered or ousted, but there are more issues than people hear about.
Illegal acts in sports are at the forefront of these three stories: “The Astros Stole Signs Electronically in 2017- Part of a Much Broader Issue for Major League Baseball” by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, “Disqualified” by Tim Layden and “How NBA Executive Jeff David Stole $13 Million from the Sacramento Kings” by Kevin Arnovitz. The illegal acts are all different yet relate to each other in a way.
In Rosenthal and Drellich’s piece, they describe the event in which the Houston Astros were illegally stealing signs electronically during games. They give a detailed explanation as to how the stealing occurred and when they would do it.
The Houston Astros sign stealing scandal resulted from a series of rule-breaking actions, whereby members of the Astros used technological aids to steal signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Astros players or team staffers watching the live camera feed behind the dugout used various audio cues, such as that of banging on a trash can, to signal to the batter what type of pitch was coming next.
Have you ever heard of a first place Kentucky Derby horse getting disqualified? Well, it’s never happened before until Maximum Security was disqualified for committing a foul in the race. This event occurred at the end of the 145th annual Kentucky Derby.
Layden describes how Maximum Security bumped into the jockey and horse next to him, thus having the run be reviewed and disqualified from winning. The Derby advisors did a lengthy review of the race and “determined that the 7 horse (Maximum Security) drifted out and impacted the progress of the number 1 […].”
Executives stealing money from sports teams is a more common occurrence than the other two stories. Embezzlement is one of the most typical crimes committed in the entertainment and sports industry. Arnovitz explains how Jeff David’s life changed with one FBI visit.
Former Sacramento Kings executive Jeff David,was found guilty of siphoning off $13.4 million from team sponsors to purchase lavish beachfront homes in Southern California, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. As he was moving into his new home with his family, the FBI showed up and requested to speak with him alone.
Along with that a former colleague called him and asked about a file labeled “Turbo Tax” that the company has never seen. He denied anything and told them to trash it, that is the file that created this whole issue.
All three of these stories contain the same themes and underlying message of how there are illegal things that happen in sports whether people want to believe it or not. They would flourish on social media with videos and pictures along with Facebook lives.
